A Luxury Yacht and a "Vegan" Banana Cream Pie

My husband always taught the boys to answer the question "What do you want?" with "A luxury yacht and a banana cream pie."  My answer was always "I can't do much about the yacht, but I can whip up a banana cream pie pretty quickly."

The latest issue of VegNews has a nice cream pie recipe.  It's vegan and gluten free. They've listed a few variations like chocolate, coconut, and lemon cream.  This is a pretty easy recipe and can be made a day before.  The recipe called for a package of vegan whipped topping so I thought I'd try it.  There was something called cashew coconut cream in the store, so I bought some hoping I could whip it.  I didn't like it so much as it didn't whip up fluffy.  Luckily I happened to have some of my own cashew coconut cream in the fridge.  I added a bit of that to the smoothie I had made instead of whipped cream and it thickened up rather nicely.  I think next time I make it I will use my own recipe for the creamy topping.  Afterall, it's so easy, just a half cup of cashews, a can of coconut cream (just the cream at the top), a couple tablespoons of confectioner's sugar,  a few drops of coconut or almond milk, and a vanilla bean. I garnished mine with toasted almonds, banana slices, and a couple Kale blossoms.

We took it to my daughter in law's birthday party.  It didn't last very long.

Bodacious Banana Cream Pie

   Vegan and Gluten Free
     by: Beverly Lynn Bennett

For the crust:

1½ cups gluten-free all purpose flour (or your favorite spelt, or WW pastry flour)
2 TB sugar (I used sucanat)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance has a nice organic vegan margarine)
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:

6 TB gluten free-all purpose flour
6 TB sugar (agave, stevia, sucanot will all work)
2 teaspoons agar powder (flakes also work just fine)
2 cups vanilla coconut milk creamer
   I just love So-Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer, I use it for my ice creams
2 large bananas, I used 3 bananas for a nice layering of bananas and cream
1-16 ounce package vegan whipped topping, (or make your own cashew coconut creme)

Preheat oven to 400º

For the crust, in a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt.  Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add water a little at a time until mixture comes together in a ball.

Place dough between two 12-inch sheets of parchment paper.  Flatten into a disc, roll out to a 12 inch circle, and remove top sheet of parchment.  Flip pastry into a 9-inch pie pan, remove bottom parchment paper, and discard.  Trim pastry, leaving a 1-inch overhang, and flute edges as desired.  Prick bottom of pie crust in several places with a fork.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned around edges.  Allow pie crust  to cool completely.

For the filling, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together flour, sugar, and agar.  slowly whisk in coconut creamer, and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

Prepare whipped topping according to package directions.  Decorate top of pie with whipped topping as desired then slice and serve.